Epic Fail or Best Diet Ever...You Choose

As Jess and Brandon like to say...epic fail. I guess it was a good thing that we walked around Garmisch-Partenkirchen on Monday, because that was all I got to see of Bavaria on this visit. I had a Mediterranean salad for dinner that night, and added the chicken to it. Big mistake. Next thing I know, I'm touring the lovely porcelain fixture in the water closet. Alllllllllllll day on Tuesday. By Tuesday night, I'm passed out in bed, stomach turned inside out, wrung up, and hung out to dry. It wasn't pretty. (Any bad thoughts that are now passing through your mind about what you just read....are a vast understatement. I'm just saying.) I survived on a few crackers and some water until Wednesday night, when I ventured out of the room in search of something more solid. Unfortunately, all those delicious creamy sauces that I normally love aren't quite so attractive to a delicate stomach, so I nibbled here and there until we returned home on Friday. On the positive side, my jeans have a lot more room in them now. As Jess said after her similar experience last year: best. diet. ever. I'm starting to think that this TDY stuff is over rated. We tagged along with Russ last year, and Jess got sick. This year, it was my turn. Next year, if he has another one to Garmisch, we might just have to pass on it. Let's face it, Brandon's next in line, and he doesn't have any fat to spare.

The US Olympic Ski Team in Garmisch-Partenkirchen

We woke up to another beautiful, blue sky day, and decided to make the most of it. The first step was to head up to my favorite area in the entire lodge...the front second floor balcony. Facing one direction, you get this great view of the lobby. But when you turn around...You get to enjoy the sunrise over the mountains. The entire wall is covered with windows. And they have these great rocking chairs lined up and waiting for you. It's the perfect place to curl up with a book and soak up some warmth. We've had a lot of rain lately, so I really enjoyed this! It's also the perfect place to enjoy a supreme view of the US Olympic ski team, who just happened to shop up for a meet and greet at Edelweiss Lodge and Resort. Actually, they were in town to take part in the Alpine World Ski Championships (right outside our amazing balcony window!), and a few members of the team were kind enough to stop by and sign some autographs. Amazing! We decided to take off and explore Garmisch-Partenkirchen, since we didn't have a chance to do that the last time we were here. It's a great town, with lots of interesting architecture.

I loved all the beautiful paintings on the buildings. This restaurant was so pretty. And just check out the outdoor seating...Doesn't that just make you want to settle in for the rest of the afternoon and sip coffee while you people watch? This was a big hit with Brandon...the chocolate fountain! This kind lady was giving out free samples of vanilla cookies dipped in Milka chocolate. Yum! (Love the hat!)

Check out this bike. It was part of a wall for a museum down town. At first, I thought it was just a couple of wheels that they were using as art. When we got closer, you could see that it was the entire bike. Very cool. Anyhoo, we are off to explore some more, so I'll leave you with a video of the US Olympic Ski Team signing autographs. Enjoy!

A Day Late And A Tooth Short

We were supposed to leave for Garmisch-Partenkirchen early on Saturday morning. Things don't always go according to plan. Poor Russ was struck down with an awful toothache late Friday night, and unfortunately, it got worse as the hours went by. Luckily, a local dentist was kind enough to fit him in for an x-ray (and hopefully a painkiller until the repairs could be made). Quicker than you could say "Holy Cow! What just happened?", Russ found himself on the receiving end of the quickest root canal known to man. Armed with antibiotics, a temporary filling, and a decent nights sleep, we took off for Bavaria early Sunday morning. It wasn't long until the sun started peeking through. Things are looking up... Once into Germany, it was nothing but blue skies all the way. Ahhhhh. Now that's more like it! After 7 1/2 hours on the road, we were all a little bit beat. After a few minutes of relaxing, we were off to explore the lodge and catch up with friends. I'll share some interesting things that we saw along our journey here today... The first video is a self cleaning toilet seat where we stopped for lunch. I know, it's strange to video something in the bathroom, but seriously...how cool is this? The second is us on the Autobahn. We were doing 80, and these cars (and lots others) passed us like we were crawling. I'm OK with the sports cars doing this, but a station wagon? I'm insulted!

Day 5: Poor Jess

Day 4 ended pretty badly for Jess. She either ate something that didn't agree with her, or was violently attacked by a vicious flu bug. Either way, she was down for the count. Poor Jess. Luckily, we had already planned on Day 5 to be a day of rest, so we ended up hanging out at the hotel. Jess stayed in bed, and Brandon and I took care of her and meandered around the hotel, just checking things out. This is the front of Edelweiss Lodge. Even the lodge had the tromp l'oeil paintings that are so popular in Bavaria. They were beautiful. This one was to the left of the entrance. This painting was to the right of the entrance. There is another one just around the corner to the right. I suppose that the locals are bidding you "good journey" on your way home. Either that, or they are excited that the Glockenspiel is about to chime. No, wait. That's just us tourists. This is the view of the Zugspitz (tallest mountain in Germany) from the front of the hotel. On the left is the ski lift. Here is the view from our balcony. I know. We had it pretty rough. Poor Jess did, at least. But if you have to be sick, it's nice to do it with a fantastic view.

Day 1: Eidelweiss Lodge and Resort

Russ has been on a lot of TDY's over the years. I mean a LOT! Sometimes it's a pretty miserable event, and I feel really sorry for him. Other times, like on a certain TDY last year to Hawaii (yes, I blogged about it), ... he gets no sympathy whatsoever. This week, he was driving out for a TDY to Germany, and there was no way we were letting him go alone. The kids and I jumped in the van and went with him. See why we shackled ourselves to him? He was going to The Edelweiss Lodge and Resort in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. This is of the lobby of the resort. LOVE the fireplace! For those of you not familiar with Garmisch-Partenkirchen, it's an alpine town in the region of Bavaria. That's the southern edge of Germany, and it's just a stone's throw away from Austria. The town sits at the foot of Zugspitze, the tallest mountain in Germany. (The IV Olympic Winter Games were held here in 1936.) This resort is owned and operated by the military, so if you serve in the Armed Forces, you need to check it out. You will love it! If you aren't with the military, there are lots of other lovely hotels and resorts in the area that you can stay at. They have quite a few sight-seeing tours available through the lodge, but the one we were interested in on our first day there was completely booked up, so we decided to spend the day checking out the lodge. (Note: If you want to take the tour to see Dachau Concentration Camp, book it ahead. It fills up quickly.) The rooms were really nice, too. We had a great view of the mountains from the balcony.

There are several restaurants in the lodge. Zuggy's Base Camp was our favorite. And guess what...the menu was entirely in English! It's the little things. Zuggy's is similar to an Applebee's. They also had a buffet restaurant, a more expensive restaurant, and a snack bar that had everything from cereal to sandwiches. Just messing around at the hotel. This is the pool in the lower level under the lobby. This and the game room were Brandon's favorite spots in the hotel. They also had a gym on this level.

You can just see the edge of the hot tub outside on the left. This was another popular spot in the lodge. Now are you starting to understand why the kids and I were not going to be left behind?